Free 2 Share VBS-2
Day 1
Call Not the Righteous, but the Sinners to Repentance
After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, and Levi got up. Left everything and followed Him.
Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them” But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to His disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:27-32 NIV®
…………………………………………………………………………………………….
Memory Verses: Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:31-32 NIV®
…………………………………………………………………………………………….
Discussion Example:
Say something like, “There are two different messages in this passage. The first one is that when Jesus called Levi to follow Him, he dropped everything and followed Jesus. Do we do that in our lives? When we see someone bullying another person, do we go get an adult to help or stand up and say, ‘Stop that’ to the bully? It’s easier for most of us to just fade into the crowd of people laughing and not stand up for those being taken advantage of or laughed. When Jesus calls us to take a stand, we need to be willing to do His will, because we would want someone to get help for us or stand up for us if we were in the same situation. What would you do or say if you saw someone making fun of someone else or bullying them?” Listen to all their ideas, complementing them on being willing to stand up for someone else.
Continue with, “The other message in this passage is that the Pharisees in Jesus' time really looked down on tax collectors who often stole some of the money they were collecting. They couldn’t believe that Jesus would eat with terrible sinners like that. Jesus, on the other hand, explains to them that those who really need a doctor are not those who are healthy, but those who are sick. In the same way, Jesus is called to help the sinners, not just those who think they are righteous and do no wrong.
“One church had a sign out front saying: Sinners Welcome. When you think of it, we are all sinners, so Jesus welcomes all of us. There are just some people like the Pharisees who think they are so good that they don’t need any help. Unfortunately, some people miss out on the message Jesus has for us, because they are too busy thinking about what great people they are and aren’t humble like the tax collector who was willing to drop everything and follow Jesus.”
…………………………………………………………………………………………….
Arts and Crafts Example:
Since it’s part of the lesson, you will want to have protective clothes like old T-shirts or big garbage bags cut with head and arm holes. You will also need toothbrushes (maybe from a dollar store), paper and paint. (I’d put some paint into empty Styrofoam egg carton cups with a couple cups of water for groups to share. I’d, also, have newspaper on the tables to protect them.)
Explain, “Just like when we wear protective clothing for messy projects, we need to have a strong and active faith in Jesus to protect us from others who make poor choices, so we don’t start acting that way too.
Tell them after they have on their protective clothing, “They are to put their paint brush in the paint and hold it over the paper and rub their thumb over the brush to create a spatter effect. They can rinse their brush and add other colors to their art project.
…………………………………………………………………………………………….
Science Example:
You will need a bag of any type of beans, a Styrofoam bowl, pitcher of water, and towels to put the bowls on for each person or group. Show them how to put the bowl on the towel and fill the bowl up with water (you may need to assist them in this).
Ask them, “How many beans dropped into the bowl do you think it will take to make this water spill over?” Listen to their Hypotheses about this experiment.
When they’ve completed the task ask, “Why do you think it took so many beans before the water spilled over?” Listen to their answers. Then explain, “The water molecules have strong surface tension like a skin and want to remain together. Eventually, with enough beans, the skin will stretch and spill over.
“That is similar to Christians. If we mainly hang around others who are Christians, we have a strong bond and will tend to do what is right. When we have some friends who make poor choices and don’t follow Christian values, we may struggle to do what’s right. Eventually, if we hang around people too long who make poor choices, it may affect us and we can start making poor choices, too. That’s not what Christ wants in our lives. We’ve all made poor choices one time or other. Because of our love of Jesus, we are supposed to try to do our best to make good choices, which means not hanging around lots of kids who make poor choices.”
…………………………………………………………………………………………….
Game Example:
Say, “The Game today is Jesus Says” (played like Simon Says.) Explain, “All the group will line up over there and face me. I will be representing Jesus in this game. when I say ‘Jesus says in the statement you are to do the action. An example would be: Jesus says to be kind to others, hop on one leg. Everyone should be hopping on one leg. If I don’t say Jesus says in the statement and I catch you doing the action, you will be out until the next round. An example would be, “You see kids laughing at someone one and you laugh too, hop on one leg. You don’t hop, because I didn’t say, Jesus says and Jesus wouldn’t want you to do that, either. O.K., let’s start.”
(In these statements, I have said church, but you could substitute Sunday School or other similar type Christian group.)
*Staying home to watch TV, instead of coming to church, pat your head.
*Coming to church and watching TV later, pat your head.
*Saying mean things about someone else, touch your knee.
*Walking across your neighbor’s yard, run in place.
*Jesus says it’s polite to walk around your neighbor’s yard, run in place.
*Jesus says to say only kind things or say nothing rude about others, touch your knee.
*Bringing your smart phone to church and watching it when no one is looking, rub your tummy.
*Jesus says to leave your smart phone home to watch or text later, so you can focus on church, rub your tummy.
*Sharing gossip about others, touch your elbow.
*Jesus says it’s not polite to gossip about others, touch your elbow.
*Telling others about all the toys and games you own, jump up and down on two feet.
*Jesus says that it’s polite to not brag and even better if you share your toys and games with others, jump up and down on two feet.
*Hanging around kids that use bad language and talk rudely to others, wave your hands.
*Jesus says that it’s not good to hang around others and you should pick friends who aren’t rude, wave your hands.
…………………………………………………………………………………………….
